The Journey
It is not my job to reflect on the actions and state of consciousness of others. I am only responsible for the way my consciousness or energy affects others.
I do not believe I have the right to judge others because I have not lived their lives and have no idea how their experiences have shaped them into the people they are today.
However, this is easier said than done. We all judge to a degree.
When I was a child, I asked my mom whether or not I was living a good life and whether I’d go to hell for my numerous sins. Eighteen years of Sunday school in a small conservative town in South Africa will do that to you.
My mom’s response was this: “The fact that you’re asking this question means that it is very important to you to live a good life, and I can see no reason why anyone who is consciously trying to be good would be eternally damned.” Besides, defining a good life is as subjective as defining beauty.
I understand today that we all make mistakes and have aspects we can work on. For as long as we turn inward, we are conscious of our energy, intentions, and actions. For as long as we attempt to learn and better ourselves, we are on the right track. For as long as we do our best with the circumstances, experiences, and consciousness of our present place in life’s journey, we have not failed.
We are in a process of learning, and learning never comes overnight or without a good amount of challenge.
So be gentle with yourself and be gentle with others, because somewhere between right and wrong, the black sheep and the apparently pure, lies compassion.
Judging someone else is not going to turn us into better people. Pointing out someone else’s mistakes will not erase ours. We are blessed if we have an awareness of our flaws because it is precisely that awareness that will bring us closer to becoming more compassionate. And the point has always been compassion.
If our meditations lead us to believe we are spiritually superior, we are missing the point. The point was never to point out the flaws of others; it was to become aware of the places within us that need growth.
I am reminded of a quote I once saw on Facebook: “Don’t judge me because I sin differently from you.” The concept of sin could possibly have been analyzed and the words might have been more eloquent, but the statement is clear. We don’t learn in chronological order, and mastering one aspect of ourselves doesn’t mean we don’t have work to do on other elements of our lives. Everyone has something to teach, but nothing teaches like experience. And no one can experience life for you. Moreover, no two persons’ experiences are completely the same. Our journey is uniquely our own.
For this reason, I believe that we are our own best teachers - if only we’d turn inward, instead of looking at others in order to distract ourselves from our own process of learning. It takes courage to come face-to-face with ourselves.
Sometimes looking inward can be terrifying, but I believe that only by confronting our own darkness can we begin to heal. While we begin to understand our own shadow side, we are humbly reminded that we, too, are works in progress. Perhaps it becomes easier to be compassionate when we can remember a time when we needed compassion and understanding from others.
My job is not to judge, my job is to love. Instead of looking for the defining lines of right and wrong, I will look for that which unites us. I will ask myself one question: How well have I loved today?
